Leftover rice has so many uses, including the basis for quick, easy, frugal rice glue. Brush it onto strips of paper for homemade paper tape.
holidays
Gifts, Wrapping, Trees and More: Curb Holiday Consumption Grinch Free

This holiday season, save money, decrease stress, and increase joy by choosing alternatives to the usual consumer trappings.
Easy Ways to Cut Frightful Halloween Waste, Keep the Fun

If you love Halloween but not all the waste that comes with it, you have options to celebrate sustainably without sacrificing any of the fun.
Easy, Adaptable, Sweet & Sour Apple-Cranberry Chutney

Have apples a wee past their prime? Make this sweet and sour apple-cranberry chutney. Or swap out the apples for pears. Make it your own.
7 Low-Waste Gifts in Jars Your Recipients Will Love

Just about everything looks better in a jar, especially food. These gifts in jars look impressive but most require little hands-on work.
5 Ways to Wrap Holiday Gifts Without the Waste

Beautifully wrapped gifts need not produce a pile of waste. Choose fabric or recycled paper that you secure with homemade paper tape.
7 Simple Gifts to Sew for Your Favorite Zero Waster

Sew handmade, zero-waste gifts for the favorite zero waster on your list. These easy projects will help you help yours divert trash from landfill.
How to Stop Receiving Unwanted Gifts

You have the zero-waste and plastic-free routine down but well-meaning friends and family constantly buy you unwanted gifts. Here’s how to decline them.
9 Simple Ways to Reduce Holiday Consumption

The holidays can present many challenges for anyone trying to cut their waste. From the parties, to the feasts to the gifts—and everyone’s expectations—you may feel like throwing your hands in the air and throwing in the (disposable) towel. These nine steps will help you reduce your consumption, retain your sanity and keep (mostly) everyone […]
13 Gifts in Jars You’ll Want to Keep for Yourself

I’m like those department stores you hate that begin selling Christmas decorations well before you’ve even chosen a Halloween costume. But hear me out. You may not have started thinking about the holidays but for some of these gifts, you need to start now, hence the early post. Others on this list you can start […]
Make Memories, Not Waste: 32+ Practical and Thoughtful Gifts

Gift-giving and low waste can happily co-exist. Studies show that experiences bring more happiness to people than stuff. Anticipating an experience—a trip, an upcoming concert, dinner with friends—makes us happy before the actual event. In other words, we benefit from the experience before we actually experience the experience. Afterward, we have fond memories. And even if […]
18 Waste-Busting Ideas for Thanksgiving Dinner

The biggest food day of the year in the US will soon be here. These ideas will help you waste less. 1. Keep it simple For this post I did a bit of research into a typical Thanksgiving dinner. I checked out menus on the website of a popular, mainstream magazine site and found them […]
How to Scale Back During the Holidays

Some might say I go too far. When compared to the average consumer, I may seen downright nutty. But I believe that decades ago—before mass consumer culture kicked in—I would have seemed fairly normal. Well, let’s say normal as far as my consumption patterns go… As I have said many times, I’m not extreme, our […]
Gifts in Jars: Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Click here to jump to the recipe If you’re like me—in panic mode/denial about the date—and need a quick, thoughtful Christmas gift, you can throw together this cookie-mix-in-a-jar present in a few minutes and maybe also spur a conversation with your recipient about zero-waste and plastic-free living. Think of it as a quiet, delicious way […]